Securing brake-beam supports to trucks



5 w. E. FowLER; JR- S'EGURING' BRAK 'ama SUPPORTS `To 'xnucxs j Filedlse'ptez) 1924. 3 sheets-sheet 1 A [//////Y/ Z/ WJT/VEJSES 1 @Mummia mm gm am *fr July 28, 1925.-. f .1,548,013

w. E. FowLER, JR l SECURING BRAKE BEAM SUPPOl-TS TO TRU-GKS Filed sept. 2, 1924 5 Sheets-'sheet 2 o.. 5 FIEJ..

f the construction shown in Patented July 28, 1925. y i f r l i UNITED'STATES :PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. FOWLER, JR., 0F BRAKE BEAM COMPANY, PENNSYLVANIA.

To all whom t may Be it known that J r., county of MOUNT LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNO'R T0 DAVIS 0F JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF SECURING BRAKE-BEAM SUPPORTS T0 TRUCKS. V

Application led September 2, 1924.v Serial No.` 735,417. l

concern.' I, WILLIAM E. FowLER,

residing at Mount Lebanon, in the Allegheny'and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen-ofthe United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements the following is The invention certain improvements in in Securing Brake-Beam of which improvements the manner of attaching 'brake beam supporting rails to a part or example,

may be attached change in the latter,

In the accompanying part of this specification,

member of a railway to the spring its object a construction whereby truck, as for plank, andV has for the rails to the plank without oronlyfsuch change as integrity or strength of invention is hereinafter ed and` claimed.

drawings forming a Fig. 1 is a portion of a truck and brake rigging and also showing the improved means for attaching the brake beam supporting rail to the spring plank of Vthe truck;

the manner of attaching the rail fication in to the spring plank;

view on a plane indicated by thefline III--V Fig. 3a is a sectional view illus- III, Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 illustrates a modi- Fig. 3 is a sectional trating a modification of the construction shown in Fig. 1; Figs. a and 5 are sectional views illustrating 6 to 10 are detail nected to the supp modilied embodiments of Fig. 1; and Figs. views illustrating several carrier block can be conorting rail when employing the construction shown in Fig. 1.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the 1 supporting rail 3 i ber of .the truck,

plank 1, -by hangers ably connected to s suspended from a memas for example thespring 4 adapted to be detach 'such member.

' spring plank is channel-shaped as shown,

' plank the hangers are pr ed toy engage the plank.I V.These plank,

areV formed passed ovided with hooks adaptlanges'Zpoie the spring hangers extend below the and through the portions below the slots 6 through which is the supporting rail 3 which is formed of resilient material.

The portions of the Vpoints Vwhere the rail 3 intermediate of the rails bear upon the nected Then the opposite lower wall of the slot' in the hangers, is bent upwardly, thel curve being such that the highest point of the `curved portion. 8 will bear against the underside of the spring plank andthe curved portion, when the several vparts are in position, will be placed under considerable tension. In applying the rails to the spring plank, the hangers are passed onto the same and one hanger is con- .toia flange 2 of thespring plank. portion of the rail is forced upwardly to permit of the hook of the second hanger beinghooked to the other langeo the spring plank; the slots 6 in the hanger are so located as to permit of this upward movement of one portion of the rail to'efect the engagement of the hook in the spring plank. In other words, thetop of the slot should be at a distance below the bottom of the spring plank equal to a depth of the hook. It is preferred that in forming the slots of the hangers the metal displaced should be so bent as to form comparatively long seats or bearings for the rails. While it isbelieved that the pressure of the rail at the three points, i. e., the underside of the spring-plank and the bottoms of the slots -in the hangers, will be suiicient to prevent any longitudinal movement of the rail, such movement can be eifectually pre-` vented by the rail for engagement with a hole or depression in the spring plank, as shown in Figs. 3a. As an alternative construction, nibsv or projections 9L may be so formed in the rail as to bear against the tongues formed on the hangers as shown in Fig. 1.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the aortions of the rail extending on opposite sides of the spring plank, are made lstraight and to these projections of the `rails are pivotally mounted carriers 10'. vThese carriers l.are provided Vat theirr upper endswith open topped slots or seats for the reception of the tension member l1l of the brake beam and when the parts of the'brake rigging and orming a nib or projection 9 on tion between the front and rear portionsof the brake beam when shifted to apply the shoes to the wheels.

As is well known inl the art, the turning down of the wheels, as is now the practice, will necessitate a greater vertical movement of the brake beam when applying the shoes and when releasing saine, hence the'norm'a'l inclination of the carriers should be such that when being swung up from its normal inclination, it will, when it reaches a vertical position, have carried up the outer end ci' the brake beam a distance required tor the smallest diameter oi the wheel. As it is possible that the brake beam may move back or to the le'i't in Fig. 1, sufficiently 'far to move the tension member out of the slot or seat in the carrier, provision is made by aV sto-p 12 to limit the dropping of the carrier, so lthat when the brake beam is moved forward again, the tension member willv enter the slot.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2 theof the means whereby the rail may be at-y tached to the underside of the spring plank. In F ig.`4 the sup-porting rail is provided withspaced loops 15 and with a reversely curved portion 8b intermediate the loops,

To the underside ot the springplank are secured hangers in the form of brackets 1G spaced distances apart approximately equal to the width of the rail and having holes therein for the reception of pins 17 which are passed through the loops. The portion intermediate the loops is, as stated, reversely curved, and bears at one point on the underside ot the plank, such point being intermediate ltlie pair of hangers 'or brackets' 16. This portion is made resilient and is so formed that vwhen bearing at one point, as stated, upon the underside of the spring plank, the loops will be held away from their operative or normal position as shown in Fig. 4 and must be forced upward in order tobring them into position permitting of the passage of the pins 17 through the loops and holes in the' brackets. y

In Fig. 5 is shown a construction substantially similar to that shown in Fig. 4, except that only halt loops 7a are formed for engagement with the supporting pins'11.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and (3l the connection of the carrier tothe rail 3 isV effected by forming a slot inA the end ot the rail for the reception of the end of the carrier and the ends of the prong formed by slotting the rails are turned' over to 'torni eyes 18 for the reception of the t'runnion 19 on the carrier. In the construction shown in Fig. 7, theV lower end of the carrier 10 is slotted and the portion 18a forming the lower wall of theslot is rounded so as to forni a bearing for the eye 19a formed in the end of the rail 3. 1n Fig. 8 is shown a construction in which the carrier 10 is provided at its lower end with a projection'QO adapted to pass through the slot 21 inthe rail 3, said slot being formed sufficiently large to permit ot the tilting movement ot the carrier. The parts are hel-d together by means of a pin 22 passing tlnough the projection below the rail.

In the construction shown in Fig. 9, the' lower end oit the carrier is provided with two lugs adaptedl to extend through notches 23 in the edge of the raily 3, said notches l'ieing sufficiently large to permit the swinging movement of the carrieron the' rail, the rail and carrier being held in operative position by a pin 22a.

In the construction shown in Fig. 10', the lower portion o1' the carrier is slotted,` the slot extending through one side to permit` of the sliding of the carrier o-nto the rail The slot is curved transversely and thelower inner surface of the wall of the slot is curved as shown for the reception of a curved portion 23 of the rail.

In lieu of employing a pivotal carrier as shown in Fig. 1, the outer portions of the rail 3 may be upwardly inclined as shown in Fig. 2 and in lieu of a pivotal carrier, the latter may consist of a base 10`a having its lower portion slotted 'for the reception of the inclined portion of the rail and provided with an open top seat for the rec-eption ol the tension member ofA the brake beam. It is preferred that the .portion -o't the shoe adapted to engage and form a seat for the tension member should be pivotallv mounted on a base 10a, as described and claimed in an application tiled by me May 15, 1924, Serial No. 713,560.

It is characteristic of the improvementdescribed and claimed herein that the support ing rail can be detached, from the plank without the use of tools. In one case apor- 'tion ot the rail can be forced up sufliciently to permit of the hook of one hanger being lifted above the flange of the plank, and in the other construction it is only necessary to drive out the pins supporting the rail.

`A rail can be placed in position by areversal or these operations. As thecarriers have open topped seats, the latter will drop out of engagement with the 'beam as soon as it is released from the plank.

I claim herein as my invention:

1. The combination of. the spring plank of a car truck, hangers or rail supporting members depending from the spring plank, a brake beam supporting rail arranged transversely of the plank and supported Vby the hangers and having the portion intermediate the hangers resilient and constructed to bear yieldingly on the plank and hangers, and brake beam carriers movably mounted on the supporting rail.y

2. The combination of the spring plank of a car truck, a resilient brake beam supporting rail Aarranged below7 and transversely of the plank, hangers detachably connected to the plank and provided with seats or bearings for the rail spaced a suitable distance below the plank, the portion of the rail intermediate its points of bearing on the hangers being so shaped that said rail will bear yieldingly on the plank and hangers.

3. The comb-ination of the spring plank of a car truck, a resilient brake beam supporting rail arranged below and transversely of the plank, hangers detachably connected to the plank and provided with seats or bearings for the rails spaced a suitable distance below the plank, the portion of the rail intermediate its points of bearing on the hangers being so shaped that said rail will bear yieldingly on the plank and hangers, and means for holding the rail as against longitudinal and lateral movements.

4l. The combination of the spring plank of a car truck, a resilient brake beam supporting rail arranged below and transversely of the plank, hangers detachably connected to the plank and provided with seats or bearings for able distance below the plank and the portions of the rail intermediate its points of bearing on the hangers being so shaped that said rail will bear yieldingly on the plank and hangers, the plank and rail being so constructed as to engage one with the other.

5. The combination of the spring plank of a car tru-ck, a resilient brake beam supporting rail arranged below and transthe rail spaced a suitversely of said plank, hangers extending down on o posite sides of the plank and provided wit detachable means for connec tion with the plank, and having seats or bearings for the rails located suitable distances below the plank7 the portion of the rail intermediate the hangers being so shaped that theV rail will bear yieldingly on the plank and hangers.

6. The combination of the spring plank of a car truck, a resilient brake beam supporting rail arranged below and transversely of said plank hangers extending down on opposite sides of the plank and provided with detachable means for connec* tion with the plank, said hangers being slotted for the vreception of the rail at points suitable distances below the plank, theportion of the rail intermediate the hangers being so constructed that the rail will yieldingly bear on the plank and hangers.

7 The combination of a channel shaped spring plank, hangers provided with hooks adapted to engage the flanges and slotted at suitable distances below the plank, a resilient beam supporting rail passing thru the slots in the hangers and having the p0rtionintermediate the hangers so constructed that the rail will bear yieldingly on the plank and hangers. Y

8. The combination of the spring plank oi' a truck, a supporting rail detachably connected to the plank and extending suitable distances on opposite sides of the plank, a carrier movably mounted on the rails and provided with an open topped seat for the reception of a portion of a brake beam.

9. The combination of the spring plank of a car tru-ck, a resilient supporting rail arranged below and extending horizontally on opposite sides of the plank, means for detachably connecting the rail to the plank, and carriers pivotally connected to the rail and having open topped seats for the reception of a portion of a brake beam.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM n. FowLER, JR. 

